Alex Barron

Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports | CNN Wright said the Trump administration is updating the National Climate Assessments that have been previously published, which the administration recently removed from government websites.

These reports are "congressionally mandated...authored by hundreds of scientists and experts...take years to research,... go through multiple rounds of peer review. An independent National Academy of Sciences panel signs off on the content." vs. I called 5 scientists who downplay climate risks.

But actually GM in the 70s (for transmission fluid not energy but still)

Aventon Abound SR Review: A Smart, Affordable Shorttail Cargo eBike with Room for Improvement The new Aventon Abound SR is a smart and affordable shorttail cargo eBike with great features and a few quirks. Let's dig in with this in-depth review.

I definitely recommend something your LBS will work on. If hauling kids, I usually recommend the Aventon bikes as a cheaper model that meets UL 2849.
cargobikelife.com/articles/ave...

From 2000 to 2025, the potential to electrify building, industry and transportation has shifted from "technically feasible" and "still under development to mostly "already largely electrified and "can be electrified economically". The remaining challenges for electrification are planes and shipping for transport, and steel production, cement and chemical production. Electrification reduces the for much of global shipping, which is currently transport of fossil fuels (~40%). Methods for production of low emissions steel are available through direct iron reduction using hydrogen or electric arc furnaces.

A new report on electrification from EMBER documents how the potential for electrification has increased over the past century, replacing fossil fuel uses. Nearly all societal needs can be electrified and provided by renewables, firmed by various types of storage. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋

Clear examples of the degraded forecasts we face in this piece from @michaelrlowry.bsky.social

Here's Iona from yesterday, with a clear shot of its internal structure in the current state on top, and a useless green blob in the suggested replacement on bottom.

I asked around on this a while ago and ended up with this model: aranet.com/en/home/prod...
Have had some issues syncing with the app, but I have an old phone.

Guest column | I’m a microplastics researcher. Here’s how I limit the plastic in my life. Microplastics are everywhere. But there are simple ways to lower your exposure.

We're still learning about the health impacts of micro-plastics - @traceywoodruff.bsky.social has some ways to reduce your exposure.

www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

Opinion | I Watched It Happen in Hungary. Now It’s Happening Here.

Former US ambassador to Hungary: "After years watching Hungary suffocate under the weight of its democratic collapse, I came to understand that the real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence." (h/t @bnovak.bsky.social)

Also available at the Second Nature Internal Carbon Pricing toolkit: secondnature.org/resources/of...

A bit more detail here - but probably not enough to answer your question. Can clarify when we catch up.
secondnature.org/wp-content/u...

Also, fun fact: we cite your book in the working paper!

Auditors can’t save carbon offsets The theory behind carbon offset projects is appealing: Instead of an organization cutting its own emissions, it can fund lower-cost carbon-reducing projects elsewhere to “offset” its emissions. The re...

Offsets: "Given the high planetary stakes in carbon policy choices being made now, it is past time to recognize that third-party auditors selected and paid by the audited organizations are not the bulwark for credit integrity they are claimed to be." @cary-coglianese.bsky.social and Cynthia Giles.

Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Telling the Truth About the Supreme Court The task of interpreting the law is inherently “political.” But no justice has been this comfortable saying so in public.

I think Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissents are an important exception to the "Supreme Court dissents don't matter" rule of thumb, because she is using them not to argue with the conservative justices, but to explain to the public that the conservative justices are liars and in the tank for Trump

True, but a bad assumption about cheap fossil gas, future electricity prices, or a high discount rate could lead someone to mis-read the economics. A carbon price can help show the upside risk to clean energy, even if the economics already look pretty good or marginal.

Designing and socializing an internal carbon price takes time which is why NOW is a great time to start exploring so we can have more of these policies in place when we return to sensible policy. Also, the climate crisis means no time to waste. Don't just doom scroll, change your institutions!

I'm a little biased, but I think students are hungry for projects that engage them with real-world climate action. Asking them to grapple with how to integrate climate into a financial decision is one good place to start.

If you are interested in exploring, my lab just released an updated working paper covering several ways to think about setting an internal carbon price in an institutional setting. Check it out here on Second Nature's toolkit:
secondnature.org/resources/of...

Second Nature recommends using the cost of abatement figures for internal carbon pricing that will be used as a levy or tax on emissions as a way to account for hidden costs that the market or policy alone cannot predict. These figures range from $50-$100/MTCO2e. Institutions applying the cost of abatement model for implementing a carbon tax are encouraged to apply an escalator of 3% + the rate of inflation annually. Best practice use of the Social Cost of Carbon is using weighted figures of $210-$248 forwarded by the EPA that truly reflects the costs of emissions and the value of reductions. This rate is best used when applying an internal proxy price or shadow price for use in decision making. Institutions using the SCC in a proxy price are encouraged to apply an annual escalator to the price of 3% + the rate of inflation.

Second Nature recommends a ROBUST carbon price ($50-100/ton or $210-$248/ton) for good decision making. Is your institution/city/etc. planning new buildings or energy-related renovations that should use this?

Second Nature recommends that colleges and universities develop a climate action strategy that includes some type of internal carbon pricing, either as a mechanism to inform climate-positive decision-making or as a mechanism for generating revenue estimates for decarbonization and, if applicable, offset purchases.

Second Nature (@leadonclimate.bsky.social), the non-profit that manages higher ed. climate commitments is now recommending _as_best_practice_ the development of an internal carbon price so that climate costs/regulatory risks are automatically built into key decisions.

Nearly half of world’s biggest companies factoring cost of carbon into business plans The number of companies using or planning to use an internal carbon price increasing 80% over just five years.

Hundreds of businesses and a growing number of #HigherEd institutions are using internal carbon prices to innovate, manage risk, and make decisions consistent with the horrible reality of climate change.
www.cdp.net/en/insights/...

An internal carbon price allows you to see what your financial analysis would look like if you _did_ care about climate damages and/or if your state or country gets serious about climate policy during the project lifetime (which could be decades).

A smart institution thinking about a major construction/renno. project will look at upfront $$ and energy and maint. $$ over time, but what they are unlikely to include is the costs to society of burning fossil fuels 🏭 or the costs to the inst. of the policies we will need to reduce emissions.

Climate change is real and a huge threat regardless of what politicians do, but chances are your institution ignores it when looking at project economics. If you are frustrated with Congress and looking for something to do (esp. if you are at an academic inst.), read on. 🧵 #AcademicSky

Thinking about this quote from Nathaniel Smith from Partnership for Southern Equity a lot this week "The times do not allow you to be comfortable just doing good work inside your schools.”

Destroying $0.5 Trillion in investment, avg. energy costs up $165, missing out on a nuclear fleets worth of clean energy while adding $3T to the deficit. This is what the Republican party has given the American people to pay for tax cuts that benefit the wealthy the most.

Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms This study aims to determine how US children’s health has been changing from 2007 to 2023 using multiple data collection methods and a comprehensive set of health indicators.

US kids are 15x more likely to die by gun, and 2.5x more likely to die by car than kids in the OECD 18 countries.

All while their health is deteriorating in other ways.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

‘It’s a nightmare.’ U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels “There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research,” one Ph.D. student says

If Congress approves the cuts the White House proposed to the NSF budget, it would cut the number of early-career scientists the NSF supports by 78%.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Tox Brewing Company Tox Brewing Company 123 Bank St, New London, CT. Craft Beers. CT Brewery. Each pint of Tox is as good as the one before it. If a batch doesn't meet our standards, it doesn't meet your glass.

PSA for the beer/science nerds out there. If you are in New London CT (e.g. waiting for the ferry), this brewery has chemistry-themed decor, games, pizza, lots of space, and live poison dart frogs.
www.toxbrewing.com 🍺🧪🐸

Enthusiastic Nerd in front of an equipment rack with a bunch of science gear and a monitor on top. A small figurine of Grommit the dog sits on top.

I got to visit with Gromit the Aerosol Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer, which I used for undergrad research 25 yrs ago @carleton.edu. I'm where I am today because of Fed $$ from EPA, NSF, NREL, Smithsonian. We need to make sure we don't lose a whole gen. of young scientists to R's budget cuts.

This sounds amazing.